COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is remembering the lasting impact their Hoffmann's two-toed sloth, Bean, had on guests and staff.
The zoo says the six-year-old sloth, who lived in 'The Loft,' passed away on Wednesday due to heart disease.
Last week, the zoo said Bean didn't have an appetite and seemed "off." She was taken to the zoo's veterinary hospital for supportive treatment and bloodwork, which revealed she had kidney disease.
On Wednesday, the zoo said Bean's kidney levels had improved, but she passed away that evening. On Thursday, an autopsy revealed she had heart disease.
Bean was born on May 14, 2019, in the Monkey Pavilion, which used to be where the zoo's playhills are now. The zoo says she was the first sloth born at the zoo in 15 years.
In her first few months, Bean allowed guests and staff to feed her grapes.
When Bean matured, she moved to The Loft, where she connected with guests.
“Sloths have a reputation for being slow, but Bean was pretty fast when she wanted to be,” said Jackie Watson, senior animal keeper in The Loft. “I loved when she’d climb right in front of our ‘Welcome to The Loft’ sign, like she was our guests’ official welcome sloth. People would always ask with excitement, ‘Is that sloth real?’ and then we’d get to tell them all about her and her species.”
The zoo says Bean was the only sloth in the zoo's history to perfect painting.
Keepers put a paintbrush to a stick that Bean could hold in one hand while she hung upside down. Keepers would have a canvas near Bean, and she would paint.
“When she first moved to The Loft, I started training her to paint so we had more opportunities to bond,” said Cassie Spero, senior animal keeper in The Loft. “A couple of months later, she was swiping a paint brush on canvases, my hands, and often her face. We bonded so much that whenever I was training a skunk, owl, or porcupine, she would wake up, climb to wherever I was, and hang down from the ropes to interrupt my other training sessions. Bean helped shape my career, and I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to get to know her.”
The zoo says Bean made a lasting impact and will be deeply missed. Her father, Bosco, mom, Asyan, and half-sister Olive live in the Scutes Family Gallery.
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